I think what may have happened is that Barnes and Noble was developing a new e-reader that used a new screen from eInk. Somewhat late in the development cycle, B&N cancelled the project. Much of the engineering work for the screen had already been done, so eInk was likely able to offer the screen at a somewhat reduced cost (maybe just for the parts themselves without a development fee) and with a reduced lead time. Kobo came in and snatched them up.

I think one of Nate's points that many here don't understand is that companies like Kobo, Barnes and Noble, and perhaps even Amazon aren't really doing a lot of their own engineering work for these devices. Yes, they may design the externals and choose specifications, but I doubt they're hiring engineers to do GD&T on the plastics or PCB design. That's almost certainly all farmed out to other companies.

I've seen it happen in my industry where a customer will have a supplier start development on a product only to cancel it later on. Since the supplier has already done a lot of work, they're able to apply that to future products for other customers at a reduced cost. This actually happens a lot.

I think we can all agree on this. I mean, Amazon id essentially a shipping company. I wouldn't expect FedEx to design and create an ereader and I wouldn't expect amazon or Kobo to either.

Kobo have previously bucked the market trend by releasing a 5-inch reader. They have cash behind them. It is not totally implausible that they might have thought of the Aura from the design stage. Indeed, it is their innovation (the best lighted screen on the market) that has kept them ahead of the game.

Yes Nate, but I've had my Kobo Aura in hand for two weeks as well and I must disagree with your conclusions. Here's what I think happened.

eInk had a new product coming: a 6.8 inch screen. Coupled with a newer screen controller and a faster CPU it had the potential to drive high resolutions on a bigger screen and still maintain excellent screen redraw speed. So they gave the new device to a bunch of geeks like us and asked: what would you do with something like this? Is it worth developing? What can you do with it that people will want to use or is eInk passe?

What Kobo produced strikes me as really innovative. Admittedly, I'm new to the Kobo products and their firmware continues to evolve, but I think what they came up with is focused on how books are presented more than simply about the screen or the coating (I like the new coating better myself) or about the back--the way you hold it works fine for me but I always put any new eReader in a cover right away so I'm not able to evaluate that very well.

My Aura provides better support for ePub3 than we get with eReaders using the Adobe rendering engine (Kobo has both the Adobe rendering engine and their own with advanced support for ePub3). Kobo uses their advanced engine to display the pages of the book I'm reading with a look more like the the best designed print books. Kobo has an SD card so I can store my whole library. They give me more fonts and the ability to load my own fonts without having to hack the eReader to do it. They support accent characters in a variety of languages. They support standard Adobe DRM and B&N DRM through ADE so I can load my old books. And they support independent bookstores (at least in the US and Britain) and they sell their eReaders and eBooks worldwide.

I have a Nook Glowlight and it's a worthy eReader but it won't do most of the above. It might have been a good idea for B&N to build a new eReader around this screen but it would have been an entirely different device. So I must disagree with you about the Kobo Aura.

Let me think about this, do we believe your conjecture , or do we believe Sameer Hasan, the Director of Product Management for Kobo Devices, who said that they had been working with their partners on this device for a year. You can read between the lines when a question is not clearly answered, but it is a big step to essentially call someone a liar.

Let me think about this, do we believe your conjecture , or do we believe Sameer Hasan, the Director of Product Management for Kobo Devices, who said that they had been working with their partners on this device for a year. You can read between the lines when a question is not clearly answered, but it is a big step to essentially call someone a liar.

Yes Taming, that's exactly what I thought too but I said it poorly. I meant that Kobo management gave the specs for the screen to their development team and asked what they could do with it.

I think that eInk developed the new HD screen and Kobo was first out of the gate to make use of the new technology. I would expect to see other companies use it as well, with their new models.

Nate doesn't like the Aura. He is entitled to his opinion, and its not like I haven't had strong opinions about someone or something after prolonged discussions that have appeared on MR.

It's human to develop a bias I suppose--look at the feelings that are directed toward Apple or Google, etc. There are fans and there are people who hate a particular company or product line. Neither POV is always completely rational.

I think that eInk developed the new HD screen and Kobo was first out of the gate to make use of the new technology. I would expect to see other companies use it as well, with their new models.

Nate doesn't like the Aura. He is entitled to his opinion, and its not like I haven't had strong opinions about someone or something after prolonged discussions that have appeared on MR.

It's human to develop a bias I suppose--look at the feelings that are directed toward Apple or Google, etc. There are fans and there are people who hate a particular company or product line. Neither POV is always completely rational.

I don't think Nate does not like it in whole, I think he does not like the design of it and does not recognize the brand identity in it. I can understand that. I have the Aura, which as you know I am not crazy about, but also since yesterday the Mini, which I really like, and now I understand better what a Kobo is/should be. The Mini reconciles me with all the positive I have read or heard about Kobo, and my understanding is that Nate loves his mini too.

My feeling now, with both devices, is indeed that the Mini is and was planned as a Kobo reader, but the Aura seems to me to be a last minute solution, whether as a test or a quick and dirty marketing action.

Let me think about this, do we believe your conjecture , or do we believe Sameer Hasan, the Director of Product Management for Kobo Devices, who said that they had been working with their partners on this device for a year. You can read between the lines when a question is not clearly answered, but it is a big step to essentially call someone a liar.

One, he was responding to a different rumor. And two, the corollary to this denial is that Kobo planned in advance to release an inferior piece of hardware. Given what Kobo released last Fall I don't find that plausible.

And three, just because Kobo planned to use this screen a year ago doesn't mean that they planned a Spring launch instead of a Fall launch.

Let me think about this, do we believe your conjecture , or do we believe Sameer Hasan, the Director of Product Management for Kobo Devices, who said that they had been working with their partners on this device for a year. You can read between the lines when a question is not clearly answered, but it is a big step to essentially call someone a liar.